Taft and Coalinga split doubleheader before Cougars fall in extra-inning series finale

Taft College and Coalinga split a doubleheader before the series ended with a one-run extra-inning loss, as the Cougars opened the set with a 13-3 road win on April 7 and then dropped a 9-4 decision at home on April 9 before falling 6-5 in 10 innings Saturday in Coalinga. The decisive swings across the week came in very different forms, a four-run sixth inning that blew open Game 1 for Taft, a six-run second inning that turned Game 2 toward Coalinga, and a walk-off rally in the 10th inning of the finale.

In the opener, Taft seized control early and kept adding on. Gaku Yamamoto drove in the first run with a single in the first inning, Roberto Madrigal helped produce another run in the second, and Noah Duran stretched the lead to 3-0 with a triple in the third. After Coalinga answered with a run in the bottom of the third, the Cougars created separation with two runs in the fifth and then put the game away in the sixth. Duran was at the center of the offense all afternoon, finishing 3 for 5 with four RBIs and a triple, while Yamamoto went 3 for 4 with three RBIs and a double. Madrigal also had three hits and scored twice as Taft finished with 13 runs on 13 hits.

Chase Phillips gave Taft exactly the kind of start it needed in Game 1. Phillips worked seven innings, allowed six hits and one run, and struck out seven to earn the win. Coalinga collected nine hits in the game, but Taft limited the damage for most of the afternoon and took advantage of extra chances created by walks, errors and long at-bats. The Cougars drew eight walks and left 12 runners on base, numbers that underscored how much traffic they generated in a game that kept tilting their way.

The second game of the doubleheader turned quickly in the other direction at Taft College. Coalinga scored once in the first inning, then broke the game open with six runs in the second. The biggest blow came from Haruki Nakano, whose three-run home run highlighted the inning and pushed Coalinga to a 7-0 lead. Taft chipped away with two runs in the third, another in the fourth and one more in the seventh, but the early deficit proved too large. Coalinga finished with nine runs on 12 hits, while Taft had four runs on nine hits and left 10 runners on base.

Jaydian Chavira worked five innings to earn the win for Coalinga in Game 2 after allowing seven hits and three runs. Ryden Walker took the loss for Taft after the second-inning damage. Coalinga also got a strong offensive day from Kade Gerboc-Chun, who went 3 for 5 and scored three runs, while Ryne Yoshimura contributed a triple and two RBIs. For Taft, the late scoring push showed some resilience, but the six-run second inning remained the sequence that defined the split.

The series finale on Saturday followed a similar pattern of momentum swings, only this time it carried into extra innings. Taft came out sharp with three runs in the first inning, using walks, an error and timely hitting to build an early lead, then added another run in the second when Landon Angelo tripled and later scored on a wild pitch. The Cougars led 5-2 after adding a run in the fifth, but Coalinga kept pressing. Connor Towns helped ignite the comeback and finished 4 for 4 with two RBIs, Haruki Nakano doubled home a run in the fifth, and Isaac Flores keyed a two-run sixth as Coalinga moved in front.

Taft answered in the ninth when Caleb Garven helped produce the tying run that made it 5-5 and forced the 10th. But Coalinga closed the series in the bottom of the inning. Titan Pasco delivered an RBI single, and Jacob Sablan followed with the go-ahead RBI double to secure the 6-5 win. Julian Orozco gave Taft a steady effort on the mound with six innings, nine hits allowed, two runs and five strikeouts, yet Coalinga's persistence across the middle and late innings decided the final game. Over the three games, Taft showed it could pressure Coalinga with traffic on the bases and timely extra-base hits, but the lasting images were the Cougars' breakout sixth inning in the opener and Coalinga's final swing in the 10th on Saturday.